Radio Week
The picks of the best of this week’s radio
ENTERTAINMENT
The Lyric Feature
SUNDAY, LYRIC FM, 6PM ★★★★
The Lyric Feature returns after a summer break with a new six-part series by ecologist Anja Murray and musician Brían Mac Gloinn celebrating some of Ireland’s native trees. Each episode in this series is about a tree species — the first is about the birtch — weaving together history, ecology and folklore with traditional tunes and especially composed songs by Mac Gloinn, one half of the folk duo Ye Vagabonds. There are interviews with master craftsmen, folklorists, archaeologists, ecologists and activists.
Live in Kyiv: Comedy From A Warzone
MONDAY, BBC RADIO 4, 4PM ★★★★★ In April 2022, two months after his country had been invaded by Russia, the Ukrainian comedian Anton Tymoschenko took to the stage in Kyiv and told jokes about the war. The video of his set — which included gags about the effect of the war on house prices — went viral. Here, Anton reflects on what he’s learned during the recent conflict and how he’s managed to keep laughing even as the bombs and bullets fly.
FACTUAL
Mindset With Dr Amir Khan
SUNDAY, 6PM, SCALA RADIO ★★★★★ Today is World Mental Health Day and to mark the occasion, doctor, bestselling author and GP on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain presents a new three-part series about music and mental health. Bringing his own personal experiences and medical knowledge to the fore, Dr Khan digs deep into the correlations between classical music and mental wellbeing, exploring exactly why and how classical music can be beneficial to us all. He also puts together a soothing playlist featuring a wide variety of emotive music by the likes of Ennio Morricone, Beethoven and Mozart, which can reduce anxiety, lower cortisol levels, blood pressure, heart rate and even breathing rate.
People Fixing the World
TUESDAY, BBC WORLD SERVICE, 3PM ★★★★
A growing number of people are looking for ways to be sustainable in death as well as life, and this fascinating documentary looks at the latest end-of-life options across the globe that aim to be more environmentally friendly.
Some are more desirable than others. In Seattle, one company has been making compost out of human remains, while in the Indian city of Lucknow ‘greenatoriums’ are a cross between the traditional wooden funeral pyre and an electric crematorium, and create fewer harmful emissions.
DRAMA
The Odd Women
SUNDAY, BBC RADIO 4, 3PM ★★★★ George Gissing’s classic 1893 novel follows the fates of two principals of a London secretarial school — the idealistic Mary and her tough, progressive business partner Rhoda. It’s set in 1888, a time when a technological and commercial revolution had created a surge in job opportunities for women as secretaries, stenographers and telephonists; but it was also a time when there was an excess of half a million women over men, leaving a huge number of ‘odd’ women without a man to marry. This Victorian classic launches BBC Radio 4’s Working Titles season, a collection of dramas relating to the world of work. It’s narrated by the great Robert Powell, with Geraldine Alexander and Emma Cunniffe as Mary and Rhoda.